Press Play with Madeleine Brand: California case: free speech v. abortion rightsCrisis pregnancy centers are generally run by pro-life groups that aim to convince pregnant women not to get abortions. A California law requires that employees tell their clients that the state offers free and low-cost abortions and other family planning services. Now a group of these centers is arguing that the law violates their freedom of speech.

UnFictionalUnbelievably true stories of chance encounters that changed the world. A pair of mail-order shoes that led to the film The Outsiders. A secret road to a California paradise. The day LA and smog first met. Stories that will stick in your head like a memory. It’s UnFictional, hosted by Bob Carlson.

The DocumentThe Document is a new kind of mash-up between documentaries and radio. It goes beyond clips and interviews, mining great stories from the raw footage of documentaries present, past and in-progress. A new episode is available every other Wednesday on iTunes and wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

To the PointA weekly reality-check on the issues Americans care about most. Host Warren Olney draws on his decades of experience to explore the people and issues shaping – and disrupting - our world. How did everything change so fast? Where are we headed? The conversations are informal, edgy and always informative. If Warren's asking, you want to know the answer.

On volume 2, Beasley again leads a 16-piece big band of crack jazz musicians playing Monk’s classic song with a twist. Not content to just use only the original Monk charts, he reimagines them with new arrangements and clever improvisations, filled with humor. The sound of this band is totally fresh. Beasley’s reinterpretations stay true to the originals, yet explore new vistas that Monk would have loved. It’s close to the bone of the Monk classics, and it presents a new and complex musical tapestry. This time they’re also joined by guest artists like Dontae Winslow, Regina Carter, Kamasi Washington, and Dianne Reeves,adding to the diversity of sound and influences on the album.

Monk’s son, drummer T.S. Monk, told Beasley, “My father would have approved your arrangements for MONK’estra because he wrote these compositions for musicians to take it and improvise on them. You’ve kept his compositional integrity. You’re carrying on his tradition. Anybody that has a love for my father’s music and has put in time like you have with his music has my admiration.”

We start the music with “Brake’s Sake,” a song about Monk and the world he lived in, a racist America against which he struggled. On this track, trumpter Dontae Winslow adds a rap commentary on current events and movements such as Black Lives Matter. Another track we hear called “Dear Ruby” features the elegant poise of Dianne Reeves, with Beasely on piano. Guest percussionist Pedrito Martinez supplies the Afro-Cuban beat on “Criss Cross.” Songs like “Light Blue” echo Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges. The final cut on the album, simply called “Work,” echoes Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain.

I could say more about John Beasley and his brilliant work on the two volumes of MONK’estra, but Quincy Jones said it better:

“Thelonious Monk was one of a kind, and so is John Beasley. He hears things in Monk’s music that no one imagined! And he can make an orchestra sing like an uncaged bird.”

A septet version of the MONK’estra is about to embark on an international tour, heading for Japan, Berlin, Belgium, Austria, then back to the U.S. They perform at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on March 9, 2018. See the full tour schedule here.